Suncheon 2019: Suncheon Bay Wetlands Reserve, (순천만습지) part 1

While I was in Suncheon I visited the Suncheon Bay Wetlands Reserve. This happened later in the day after I had gotten back to Suncheon from a day trip over to Boseong, which I’ll be covering next week. The Suncheon Bay Wetlands Reserve is located at the southern edge of the city where the Dong-cheon and Isa-Chevon rivers merge and pass through mudflats before reaching the sea. To get down there I caught a bus that dropped me off near the entrance. The rice paddies by the visitor center looked like they were getting close to harvest time. My entry ticket cost 8,000 won (approximately USD $7.22) and once I passed through the ticket gate I started on the path towards the wetlands. Sightseeing boats were loading and unloading visitors by the bridge over the river and if I had arrived earlier in the day I might have bought a ticket for a cruise.

After crossing the river I entered the main part of the wetlands. The mudflats of the Suncheon Bay Wetlands Reserve are covered in reeds and even though they’re not that far from the urban part of Suncheon they feel a world away from it. Elevated walkways allow people to cross the wetlands without disturbing the environment, which is particularly important since this place gets a lot of visitors. Over 150 different types of birds can be seen in the wetlands, along with dozens of other animal species. If you visit the wetlands be sure to look down while you’re walking along the elevated walkways. Although at first it might just look like mud and reeds below the walkways, if you look carefully you’ll see lots of small creatures populating the wetlands. The reeds of the wetlands will also change colors depending on what time of the year you visit. I was there in early autumn, so the reeds were changing from green to a yellowish color. In the summer the reeds are a lush green while later in autumn they’ll change to golden brown.